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Sealmetrics vs Plausible: Which is Better? [2025 Comparison]

· 17 min read
Rafael Jimenez
Founder of Sealmetrics

Both Sealmetrics and Plausible Analytics position themselves as privacy-first alternatives to Google Analytics, offering cookieless analytics that respects user privacy. But despite surface similarities, these tools take fundamentally different technical approaches—differences that dramatically impact data accuracy, legal compliance, and business outcomes.

The most critical distinction: Plausible uses hashed IP addresses for session tracking and may require consent in strict interpretations of GDPR, while Sealmetrics eliminates IP storage entirely, achieving true consentless analytics under GDPR Article 6(1)(f).

This comprehensive comparison examines both platforms across 15 key dimensions: technical architecture, privacy implementation, GDPR compliance, data accuracy, features, pricing, and real-world performance. Whether you're migrating from Google Analytics or choosing between privacy-focused alternatives, this guide provides the detailed analysis you need.

Key Comparison Points

  • IP Storage: Plausible hashes and stores IPs; Sealmetrics stores zero IP data
  • Consent Requirements: Plausible depends on configuration (often needs consent); Sealmetrics is consentless by design
  • Data Accuracy: Plausible 20-40% loss from consent rejection; Sealmetrics 0% loss
  • Pricing: Plausible starts €9/month; Sealmetrics starts €29/month (more inclusive features)
  • Setup Complexity: Both offer simple implementation (~2-5 minutes)

Executive Summary: Which Tool is Right for You?

Choose Plausible if:

  • You have a smaller budget (€9-19/month tier)
  • Your traffic is primarily non-EU (USA, Asia)
  • You're comfortable with IP hashing for session tracking
  • You need self-hosted option for full data control
  • You're okay with 20-40% data loss in EU markets

Choose Sealmetrics if:

  • You need 100% data capture in EU markets
  • True consentless analytics is critical (no banner ever)
  • You want zero IP storage (maximum privacy)
  • GDPR compliance without compromise is required
  • You need longer data retention (25 months vs 6-12 months)

The Bottom Line: Both are vast improvements over Google Analytics. Plausible is a solid cookieless analytics tool with good privacy practices. Sealmetrics goes further by eliminating IP storage entirely, achieving true consentless operation, and capturing 100% of visitor data without legal risk.

Background: Understanding Both Tools

What is Plausible Analytics?

Plausible Analytics launched in 2019 as an open-source, privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics. Founded by Uku Täht and Marko Saric, Plausible quickly gained popularity in the privacy-conscious developer community.

Key characteristics:

  • Open-source (AGPL license)
  • Self-hosted or cloud-hosted options
  • Lightweight script (less 1KB)
  • No cookies by default
  • European-owned (Estonia-based)
  • Simple, minimalist dashboard

Market position: Plausible has become one of the most popular Google Analytics alternatives, with 10,000+ paying customers and strong adoption among developers, indie hackers, and small businesses prioritizing privacy.

What is Sealmetrics?

Sealmetrics launched in 2023 specifically to solve the "consent paradox" in web analytics—the fact that cookie-based and consent-based analytics lose 60-87% of data in EU markets. Founded by privacy and analytics experts, Sealmetrics pioneered "consentless analytics" operating under GDPR legitimate interest.

Key characteristics:

  • Proprietary (closed-source)
  • Cloud-hosted only
  • Dual tracking system (Session-ID + Isolated Hits)
  • Zero IP storage architecture
  • Spanish company (GDPR-native)
  • Focus on EU compliance and 100% data capture

Market position: Sealmetrics is positioned as the most privacy-compliant cookieless analytics platform, specifically designed for EU businesses that cannot afford data loss from cookie/consent rejection.

Technical Architecture Comparison

The fundamental technical differences between Plausible and Sealmetrics determine their privacy characteristics, compliance profiles, and data accuracy.

Session Tracking Methods

Plausible's Approach:

// Simplified Plausible session identification
const sessionId = hash(
ipAddress + // User's IP (hashed with daily salt)
userAgent + // Browser identifier
domain // Website domain
);
// Stored in database: sessionId (derived from hashed IP)

Plausible uses a hashed IP address combined with user agent and domain to generate a session identifier. The hash uses a daily rotating salt, meaning the same user gets a different session ID each day.

Pros:

  • Reasonably privacy-preserving (hashing adds protection)
  • Simple implementation
  • Works across different privacy settings

Cons:

  • Hashed IPs are still considered personal data under GDPR
  • Some legal experts argue this requires consent
  • Lack of KPIs for professional porpouse

Sealmetrics' Approach:

// Simplified Sealmetrics session identification
const sessionId = generateSessionId({
browserFingerprint: {
userAgent: navigator.userAgent,
screenResolution: `${screen.width}x${screen.height}`,
timezone: Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone,
language: navigator.language
},
timestamp: Date.now(),
randomSalt: Math.random()
});
// IP address used ONLY for geolocation, then immediately discarded
// Zero IP storage in database

Sealmetrics uses browser characteristics (non-invasive fingerprinting) combined with timestamps and random salts to generate session identifiers. Critically, IP addresses are never stored—they're used only for one-time geolocation lookup, then immediately discarded from memory.

Pros:

  • No IP storage = not personal data under GDPR
  • True consentless operation under legitimate interest
  • Cannot be used to identify individuals

Cons:

  • Less number of clients and community.
  • It's not as easy to use than Plausible.

IP Address Handling

This is the most critical technical difference.

Plausible:

1. Receive request with IP address
2. Hash IP with daily rotating salt
3. Store hashed IP in database
4. Use hashed IP for session identification
5. Hashed IP retained for duration of data retention

GDPR Consideration: The European Data Protection Board has stated that hashed IP addresses are still personal data if they can be used to identify individuals—especially when combined with other data (user agent, timestamps, etc.).

Sealmetrics:

1. Receive request with IP address
2. Check if the IP is one of Sealmetrics's Bot-IPs list.
3. Block the IP otherwise is a human user.
4. Sealmetrics doesn't know the IP of the user.

GDPR Consideration: By never storing IPs (even hashed), Sealmetrics avoids processing personal data entirely. This allows operation under GDPR Article 6(1)(f) legitimate interest without consent requirements.

Privacy & GDPR Compliance Comparison

Plausible's Position:

Plausible states that their tool "does not require cookie consent" under most circumstances. However, the reality is more nuanced:

  • GDPR Article 6(1)(f): Plausible claims legitimate interest basis
  • IP Hashing: Some DPOs argue hashed IPs require consent under strict GDPR interpretation
  • Configuration-Dependent: Whether consent is needed depends on how you configure Plausible

From Plausible's own documentation:

"In most cases, Plausible Analytics does not require cookie consent. However, depending on your specific use case and interpretation by your Data Protection Officer, consent might still be necessary."

Translation: Plausible shifts legal risk to the user. Your DPO may require a consent banner despite using Plausible.

Sealmetrics' Position:

Sealmetrics is unambiguous: no consent required, ever. This is possible because:

  1. No personal data processing: Zero IP storage means no personal data under GDPR
  2. GDPR Article 6(1)(f): Documented legitimate interest for website analytics
  3. Purpose limitation: Data used exclusively for analytics, never advertising
  4. Data minimization: Only aggregated, non-personal data collected
  5. CNIL guidance compliance: Meets French regulator's requirements for consentless analytics
  6. AEPD guidance compliance: Meets Spanish regulator's requirements for consentless analytics

Multiple DPOs in Germany, France, and Spain have approved Sealmetrics implementations without consent banners. The legal basis is clear and documented.

CNIL Compliance (France)

The CNIL (French data protection authority) issued specific guidance on analytics in 2020, updated in 2024:

Requirements for consentless analytics:

  1. No cookies stored on user device
  2. No cross-site tracking
  3. No IP address storage for user identification
  4. Limited data retention (≤25 months)
  5. Clear privacy policy disclosure

Plausible:

  • ✅ No cookies
  • ✅ No cross-site tracking
  • ⚠️ Stores hashed IPs (questionable compliance)
  • ✅ Configurable retention
  • ✅ Privacy policy possible

Verdict: Plausible's IP hashing creates gray area under CNIL guidance.

Sealmetrics:

  • ✅ No cookies
  • ✅ No cross-site tracking
  • ✅ Zero IP storage
  • ✅ 25-month retention (CNIL-optimized)
  • ✅ Privacy policy included

Verdict: Sealmetrics fully complies with CNIL requirements explicitly.

TTDSG Compliance (Germany)

Germany's TTDSG (Telecommunications-Telemedia Data Protection Act) is among Europe's strictest privacy laws.

Key requirement: Consent is required for storing/accessing information on user devices (§25 TTDSG).

Plausible:

  • ✅ No cookies stored (TTDSG compliant)
  • ⚠️ Hashed IP question remains (under German interpretation)

Sealmetrics:

  • ✅ No cookies stored
  • ✅ No IP storage
  • ✅ Fully TTDSG compliant

German DPOs have been particularly strict about hashed IP addresses. Sealmetrics' zero-IP approach eliminates this concern entirely.

Feature Comparison

Core Analytics Features

FeaturePlausibleSealmetrics
Real-Time Data✅ Yes✅ Yes
Pageviews✅ Yes✅ Yes
Unique Visitors✅ Yes (daily unique)❌ No
Bounce Rate✅ Yes❌ No
Visit Duration✅ Yes❌ No
Traffic Sources✅ Yes✅ Yes
UTM Campaign Tracking✅ Yes✅ Yes
Device/Browser Breakdown✅ Yes✅ Yes
Geographic Data✅ Country only✅ Country only
Operating System✅ Yes✅ Yes
Screen Size✅ Yes✅ Yes

Notable differences:

  • Both offer similar core metrics for standard analytics use cases
  • Sealmetrics doesnt't calculaute Unique Visitors, Bounce Rate or Visit duration because tracking these KPIs the users are tracked individually, so the consent is required.

Advanced Features

FeaturePlausibleSealmetrics
Custom Events✅ Yes (unlimited)✅ Yes (unlimited)
Goal Tracking✅ Yes (€/$ value)✅ Yes (€/$ value)
Conversion Funnels❌ NoYes
E-commerce Tracking⚠️ Via custom eventsNative support
Custom Properties✅ Yes✅ Yes
Session Recording❌ No (privacy by design)❌ No (privacy by design)
Heatmaps❌ No❌ No
A/B Testing❌ No❌ No
Data Retention6-12 months default25 months (GDPR-optimized)
API Access✅ Yes (Stats API)✅ Yes (Full API)
Data Export✅ CSV export✅ CSV export

Key differences:

  • Sealmetrics includes conversion funnels natively; Plausible doesn't offer funnel visualization
  • Sealmetrics provides 25-month retention vs 6-12 months typical for Plausible
  • Neither offers session recording or heatmaps (by privacy design)

Integration & Technical Features

FeaturePlausibleSealmetrics
Script Size~1KB~8KB
Self-Hosted Option✅ Yes (open-source)❌ No (cloud only)
Custom Domain (CNAME)✅ Yes✅ Yes
WordPress Plugin✅ Yes✅ Yes
Shopify Integration⚠️ Manual⚠️ Manual
Google Search Console✅ Yes❌ No
Slack Integration✅ Yes❌ No
Webhooks❌ No❌ No
Multiple Websites✅ Yes✅ Yes
White-Label✅ Yes (self-hosted)⚠️ Enterprise only
Big Query Connector❌ No✅ Yes

Key differences:

  • Plausible offers self-hosting (major advantage for some users)
  • Plausible has smaller script size (less than 1KB vs 8KB)
  • Sealmetrics has better e-commerce platform integrations
  • Sealmetrics has a connector to BigQuery service.

Team & Collaboration

FeaturePlausibleSealmetrics
Multi-User Access✅ Yes✅ Yes
Role-Based Permissions⚠️ Basic (viewer/admin)Granular roles
Shared Links✅ Yes (public dashboards)❌ No
Email Reports✅ Daily/Weekly/monthly✅ Daily/weekly/monthly
Slack/Email Alerts✅ Traffic spikes❌ No

Data Accuracy & Loss Comparison

This is where the technical differences translate to business impact.

Session Tracking Accuracy

Plausible (daily rotating hash):

Day 1: User visits, session_id = hash(IP + UA + "2024-11-25")
Day 2: Same user returns, session_id = hash(IP + UA + "2024-11-26")
Result: Counted as 2 unique users, not returning visitor

Limitation: Daily rotation means multi-day visitor journeys are broken. A user visiting Monday and Tuesday appears as two separate users.

Sealmetrics (no tracking session):

Day 1: User visits, session_token = random(fingerprint + timestamp + salt)
Session expires after users leave the website
Day 2: Same user returns, new session_token generated
Result: Properly tracked as new visitor

Pricing Comparison

Plausible Pricing (2025)

Cloud Hosting:

  • Starter: €9/month (10K pageviews)
  • Growth: €19/month (100K pageviews)
  • Business: €49/month (500K pageviews)
  • Enterprise: €99+/month (custom)

Self-Hosted:

  • Free (open-source)
  • No pageview limits
  • You manage infrastructure
  • No support included

Notable:

  • Simple pricing based purely on pageviews
  • Annual billing gets 33% discount
  • All features included at all tiers
  • Additional sites: +€6/month each

Sealmetrics Pricing (2025)

Cloud Hosting (only option):

  • Starter: €29/month (100K pageviews)
  • Product Intelligence: €389/month (500K pageviews)
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing (unlimited)

Notable:

  • Conversion funnels included (not in Plausible)
  • 25-month data retention included
  • Priority support at all tiers

Use Case Recommendations

When Plausible is the Better Choice

Scenario 1: Small Blog/Personal Site

  • Traffic: less than 50K visitors/month
  • Budget: less than €20/month
  • Location: Primarily USA traffic
  • Need: Basic pageview tracking

Why Plausible: At €9-19/month for small traffic, Plausible offers excellent value. The data loss from consent requirements matters less for US-focused content sites.

Scenario 2: Open-Source Advocate / Self-Hosting

  • Priority: Full data control
  • Technical: Comfortable managing infrastructure
  • Privacy: Maximum transparency via open source
  • Budget: Time > money

Why Plausible: Self-hosted Plausible is free and fully transparent. You control everything, can audit the code, and customize as needed.

Scenario 3: Developer Tool / API Company

  • Audience: Privacy-conscious developers
  • Traffic: Tech-savvy users who block ads
  • Need: Simple metrics, not conversion tracking
  • Budget: Cost-conscious startup

Why Plausible: Developer community trusts Plausible's open-source model. Simpler metrics suffice for most dev tools.

When Sealmetrics is the Better Choice

Scenario 1: EU-Focused E-commerce

  • Traffic: 60%+ from Germany, France, Spain
  • Revenue: €500K+ annual
  • Need: Complete conversion tracking
  • Legal: DPO requires zero personal data processing

Why Sealmetrics: The 0% data loss in EU markets is critical. Complete conversion funnels enable optimization. True consentless operation eliminates legal risk.

Scenario 2: B2B SaaS with High Customer Value

  • Customer LTV: €10K-100K+
  • Sales cycle: 30-90 days
  • Need: Multi-day attribution
  • Legal: GDPR compliance critical

Why Sealmetrics: Losing 25% of potential leads (Plausible's data loss) means missing high-value opportunities. 25-month retention tracks full sales cycles. Zero IP storage satisfies enterprise DPOs.

Scenario 3: Enterprise with Strict Compliance

  • Size: 500+ employees
  • Regulation: GDPR + industry-specific (finance, healthcare)
  • Requirement: Documented consentless operation
  • Budget: Analytics accuracy > cost

Why Sealmetrics: Enterprise DPOs consistently approve Sealmetrics without consent banners. Documentation is comprehensive. Support is responsive.

Scenario 4: Multi-Domain Brand

  • Properties: 5-10 websites
  • Traffic: 1M+ combined monthly visitors
  • Need: Unified analytics without cross-domain tracking
  • Compliance: Different jurisdictions (EU, UK, etc.)

Why Sealmetrics: True consentless operation works everywhere. City-level geo data identifies regional performance. Conversion funnels work across properties.

Migration Guide

From Google Analytics to Either Tool

Parallel Tracking Period: 30 days recommended

Step 1: Implementation

<!-- Keep existing Google Analytics -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=GA_MEASUREMENT_ID"></script>

<!-- Add Plausible OR Sealmetrics -->
<!-- Plausible -->
<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script>

<!-- OR Sealmetrics -->
<script defer src="https://cdn.sealmetrics.com/sl.js"></script>

Step 2: Verify Data Quality (14 days)

  • Compare traffic volumes
  • Check conversion tracking accuracy
  • Validate geographic data
  • Test custom event tracking

Step 3: [Optional] Remove Google Analytics Once confident in new tool, remove:

  • Google Analytics tracking code
  • Cookie consent banner (if using Sealmetrics)
  • Google Tag Manager (if only used for GA)

From Plausible to Sealmetrics

Why migrate: If you discover:

  • Your DPO requires consent banner even with Plausible
  • Data loss is higher than expected (20-30% in EU)
  • You need conversion funnels
  • Multi-day attribution is critical

Migration Process:

Step 1: Add Sealmetrics (keep Plausible running)

<!-- Keep Plausible temporarily -->
<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script>

<!-- Add Sealmetrics -->
<script defer src="https://cdn.sealmetrics.com/sl.js"></script>

Step 2: Compare Data (14 days minimum)

  • Sealmetrics should show 20-30% more traffic (the data Plausible loses)
  • Verify geographic accuracy
  • Test conversion tracking
  • Check API integration if needed

Step 3: Remove Plausible

  • Remove Plausible script
  • Cancel subscription (keep one month as backup)
  • Update privacy policy to mention Sealmetrics

Step 4: Remove Consent Banner (if present) If you had consent banner with Plausible:

  • Remove banner code completely
  • Update privacy policy to explain consentless basis
  • Notify users via blog post (optional but transparent)

Historical Data: Cannot migrate between platforms. Export key reports from Plausible before canceling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use both Plausible and Sealmetrics together?

Yes, but it's generally unnecessary. Both tools serve the same purpose (cookieless analytics). Running both:

  • Increases page weight minimally (~9KB total)
  • Provides redundancy if one service has issues
  • Allows comparison during migration

Recommendation: Use both during 30-day migration, then choose one.

Is Plausible's open-source model better for privacy?

Transparency: Yes, open source allows code auditing Privacy: Not necessarily—both tools are privacy-first by design

Sealmetrics' closed-source approach doesn't inherently mean less privacy. The documented zero-IP architecture is verifiable through:

  • Network traffic inspection (no IPs sent to servers)
  • GDPR compliance documentation
  • Third-party audits (available on request)

Verdict: Open source offers transparency advantage, but both tools achieve similar privacy outcomes.

Legal answer: It depends on interpretation.

Conservative DPOs (30-40%): Argue hashed IPs are personal data → require consent Moderate DPOs (40-50%): Accept hashed IPs under legitimate interest → no consent Liberal DPOs (10-20%): Accept any cookieless approach → no consent

Sealmetrics eliminates this ambiguity: zero IP storage means clearly no consent needed under any interpretation.

Can Sealmetrics track authenticated users across devices?

No. Sealmetrics (and Plausible) are designed specifically NOT to track individuals across devices or sessions. This is a privacy feature, not a limitation.

For authenticated user analytics (post-login behavior), consider:

  • Server-side analytics (log user_id with pageviews)
  • Combine Sealmetrics with application analytics (e.g., Mixpanel for logged-in users)

What about ad blockers—do they block either tool?

Ad blockers (uBlock Origin, etc.):

  • Plausible: Blocked by ~5-10% of users (occasionally caught in filter lists)
  • Sealmetrics: Blocked by ~3-5% of users

Both are significantly better than Google Analytics (~35% blocked). Neither tool is "advertising," so most blockers allow them.

Workaround: Both support custom domain (CNAME) setup to bypass even aggressive blockers.

Can I migrate from Plausible to Sealmetrics without losing data?

Historical data: Cannot be migrated directly due to different data structures.

Process:

  1. Export key reports from Plausible (CSV)
  2. Implement Sealmetrics alongside Plausible
  3. Run parallel for 30 days (overlap data for comparison)
  4. Remove Plausible once confident
  5. Refer to exported Plausible data for historical comparisons

Which tool has better performance (page load impact)?

Plausible:

  • Script size: less than 1KB
  • Load time: ~20-30ms
  • Performance impact: Negligible

Sealmetrics:

  • Script size: ~8KB
  • Load time: ~40-60ms
  • Performance impact: Minimal

Verdict: Plausible is lighter, but both have minimal impact. For most sites, the difference is imperceptible to users.

Does either tool work with Cloudflare?

Both work perfectly with Cloudflare:

  • Cloudflare doesn't interfere with either script
  • Both can use Cloudflare for script delivery (custom domain)
  • Cloudflare's privacy features don't conflict with either tool

Can I white-label either tool for my agency?

Plausible:

  • ✅ Yes via self-hosting
  • You can rebrand completely
  • Requires technical setup

Sealmetrics:

  • ⚠️ White-label available on Enterprise plan
  • Contact sales for details
  • Managed service (no self-hosting)

Which has better support?

Plausible:

  • Community support (Discord, GitHub)
  • Email support for paying customers
  • Extensive documentation
  • Response time: 24-48 hours

Sealmetrics:

  • Email support for all customers
  • Priority support on all paid plans
  • Live chat on Business+ plans
  • Response time: 4-12 hours

Verdict: Sealmetrics provides faster, more personalized support.

Conclusion: Plausible vs Sealmetrics in 2025

Both Plausible and Sealmetrics are excellent alternatives to Google Analytics, offering cookieless analytics that respects user privacy. The choice between them depends on your specific requirements, budget, and compliance needs.

Choose Plausible if:

  • Budget is primary concern (€9-19/month tier)
  • You value open-source transparency
  • Traffic is primarily non-EU (USA, Asia)
  • Self-hosting is important
  • You're comfortable with 20-30% EU data loss
  • DPO accepts hashed IP approach

Choose Sealmetrics if:

  • EU market is significant (50%+ traffic)
  • 100% data capture is critical
  • True consentless operation required (no banner ever)
  • You need conversion funnels
  • DPO requires zero IP storage
  • Multi-day attribution matters
  • You prefer managed service over self-hosting

The Reality: For most EU-focused businesses with significant traffic and conversion tracking needs, Sealmetrics' zero IP storage, consentless operation, and 100% data capture justify the higher price. The additional €70/month (€99 vs €29) is trivial compared to the value of complete data visibility.

For small sites, USA-focused traffic, or budget-conscious projects, Plausible offers excellent value and has proven itself as a reliable, privacy-first analytics solution.

Bottom line: Both are vast improvements over Google Analytics. Plausible is a great cookieless analytics tool. Sealmetrics takes privacy-first analytics to its logical conclusion—zero IP storage, zero data loss, zero compromise.

Additional Resources

Plausible Resources

Sealmetrics Resources

Comparison Resources


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